1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for external medical treatment of the oral cavity with the aid of light, more specifically with the aid of light which palliates- and/or cures different states of diseases, and a method for medical treatment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Swedish Patent Specification No. 502 784 teaches an apparatus for external medical treatment with the aid of light that includes a light-emitting device which is intended to be held against or close to the body of an individual, and drive means for the light-emitting device. The light-emitting device includes light-emitting diodes or corresponding elements which are intended to emit infrared light. According to the aforesaid patent specification, the drive means is adapted to control the light-emitting device to emit infrared light in a first stage and then to emit visible light in a second stage. The drive means is adapted to control the light-emitting device to pulsate the infrared light and the visible light in accordance with a predetermined series of pulse frequencies.
It has also been found that very good results can be obtained when treating a patient with solely one or more types of monochromatic light and with light other than infrared light, such as visible light of different colors emitted in accordance with a given pulse frequency.
It is also known to perform different treatments by using certain specific pulse repetition frequencies to achieve certain effects.
It has thus been found that an apparatus of the aforesaid kind can be used very successfully in treating many different states of diseases and injuries, for instance sports injuries, stretched muscles, muscular pain, joint pain, headaches, various inflammatory conditions, various skin complaints, such as acne, back pains, etc., provided that the light is emitted in a certain way. In this regard, treatment with light has a favorable influence on injury healing processes and will palliate and/or cure various diseases.
There is thus an understanding that treatment with certain light that is emitted in certain frequency series will have a significantly greater effect in shortening the time taken to cure or palliate a disease.
It has surprisingly been found that an apparatus of this kind can be used to palliate and cure gingivitis, i.e. inflammation of the gums, and also pariedontitis, i.e. loosening of the teeth. The present invention relates to apparatus for this purpose.
Further the invention relates to a method for medical external treatment of the oral cavity with the aid of light.
The present invention thus relates to an apparatus and a method for the external medical treatment of the oral cavity with the aid of light. The apparatus includes a light-emitting device which is intended to be held against or in the close proximity of the patient""s body, and drive means for the light-emitting device. The light-emitting device includes light-emitting diodes or corresponding elements adapted to emit monochromatic light and the drive means is adapted to control the light-emitting device to emit at least one type of monochromatic light over one or more predetermined time periods and to pulsate the light emitted in accordance with a predetermined pulse frequency or a series of pulse frequencies over said time periods. The drive means includes a computer and drive circuits for the light-emitting diodes, wherein the computer is adapted to send electric signals to the drive circuits so that the light-emitting diodes function to emit light within predetermined time periods and with predetermined pulse repetition frequencies. The light-emitting device is intended to lie against a patient""s cheek. The drive means and the light-emitting device are adapted to emit solely infrared (IR) light in accordance with a series of pulse repetition frequencies, wherein light having a pulse repetition frequency of about 7.8 Hz is emitted first, followed by light that has a pulse repetition frequency of about 287 Hz, followed by light that has a pulse repetition frequency of about 31.2 Hz.